Over The River and Through the Woods
by T.L. Wilson
Summary: This is a story very loosely based on Luke Cates.  The only similarities you'll find between him and my version of Luke is the first name and his physical appearance.  Saying that, I say this...High school drama mixed with a little darkness...eventually.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Thanks for picking me up."

"No problem. What happened this time?"

"Stupid thing won't crank."

"I think it's safe to say it's time for a new car."

"Yeah, like that's going to happen. She won't even fix the one I've got, what makes you think she'll buy a new one?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

My mom complained on an almost daily basis before she got me the car because she was tired of always having to take me back and forth to school, as if it wasn't important enough for me to go. As if I was able to walk the eight miles twice a day to work and back home and go to my part time job at the U-Save. When we found the car, a 93 Honda Civic, it only cost $300.00 and she didn't think twice about getting it. I wish she'd at least had someone check it out first before she bought it. It's been broken down more than it's ran. But when it does run, I love it. No complaints. Thankfully, my best friend Zach has to drive by my house twice a day to get to school and back home again. He never minds picking me up and I usually never have a problem with it either except that it's getting home and to work that I have to deal with. He happens to be the high school quarterback and you'd think that he'd be happy with the popularity that automatically comes with it, but truth is, he's not. I'm the only one that he has ever shown is true colors to.

"you gotta work today?"

"yeah, I've gotta be there at 4."

"they don't give you much time for rest in-between school and work do they?"

"No, but I don't mind. I need the money."

"Why don't you just ask me for it? You know I don't mind."

"tempting but no thanks. I want to work for it not have someone hand it to me and me having to owe the one responsible."

"you're stubborn, you know that? too stubborn."

I laughed at that, "yeah I know, but you wouldn't have it any other way."

I used to have a secret crush on him but I got over it as soon as I realized he was way out of my league. But somehow, our family differences, and looks for that matter, didn't stop him from befriending me. His parents are rich. His father is a neurological surgeon and his mother is gunning for the district attorney's position. But despite their busy and hectic lives, they have never missed a single game. They simply love their son and they aren't afraid to show it. Which makes me a little uncomfortable sometimes because my own family, or lack thereof, is nothing in comparison to that. My mother, on the other hand, has never been to a single one of my games. She doesn't even know that I am the pitcher for the varsity softball league. She thinks that I'm always in the dugout, never actually needed on the team. In her eyes, I'm not needed at all. My mother is never at home and as you can tell, we don't have the typical mother/daughter relationship. She's never home and she's never cared very much for me. I swear she was biding her time waiting for the day I turned 12 so that she could legally leave me at home alone and fend for myself. There are a few good things I can say though. She always has food in the house. She pays the bills. And she never brings home her random "encounters" from work. She works two jobs. She's both a nurse, and a nighttime bartender. You'd think that I'd hate having a mom as a nurse because it means that I'd never be able to fake sick, but she's either never there, or she's too tired and drunk to notice. I guess for all intents and purposes, I should be really screwed up. I should probably stay out late, drink whatever I can get my hands on and smoke/sniff whatever drugs I can have access to but the truth is, I've never had those kinds of desires. Now, I do occasionally have a beer or two with Zach in his finished basement or if we happen to crash a random party after one of his games on Friday nights but that's about it. Overall, I'm pretty responsible for being a teenager. But not so much that I don't know how to have fun. Just his status alone as the quarterback of an undefeated team allows any doors to open for us. Never mind the fact that I've somehow managed to establish my own popularity. Still don't know how that happened. Despite that, I know a lot of the kids at my school laugh at me behind my back because of my mom's reputation. Age has always been just a number to her anyway. Now, do I have proof that she's slept with any of my fellow students? No. But I wouldn't put it past her. Not for one second. She doesn't even know who my own father is.

"As far as I know, practice hasn't resumed yet so I'm pretty sure I can take you to work and then back home."

"yeah, I remember what happened the last time you said that. I almost lost my job."

"Dammit, it wasn't my fault Luke got us busted and you know that!", he said with a rather aggravated tone but I knew he wasn't mad about it.

Aah, Luke...Where do I begin? Well for one, he's gorgeous and charming. An all-American jock. And a real ladies man too. And I've had a crush on him since the very first moment I locked eyes with his pale green ones almost four years ago. He and his family moved down here from New Jersey and it took almost no time for him to become the king of the school. He's an only child like myself and you might as well say he's being raised by a single parent too but his dad's never home because he works all the time. His mom on the other hand, has left all of reality. And no one knows why. She stopped speaking about two years ago. No warning or anything. And then about six months after that, she stopped responding too. They finally had to put her in a home. Luke took it very hard but he hardly ever let it show. At least not around our classmates. It was only around his true friends, Zach and myself, that he would talk about it and show how he really felt. It always took everything I had not to hug him and kiss him on that full mouth of his and not tell him that it'd would be alright. Truth was, it wouldn't be. The doctor's can't figure out what's wrong with her which means they don't know how to cure her. I've never seen her but from what I hear, Luke is a spitting image of her. Dark blond hair, pale green eyes and tall. A real knockout when she was younger.

Zach pulled up next to Luke's truck, in his usual spot in the senior parking lot. We got out and walked over to where Luke was waiting for us. For obvious reasons, you don't park there unless your a senior. If you did, whatever happened to your car was completely ignored by both school officials and local police. It was a given not to park there. But occasionally, we would have a new student park there and he'd come out at the end of school with a scratched up paint job, flat tires, and broken windshield wipers. It always took just one time and they'd never park there again.

"Piece of shit broke down again?" asked Luke, as he chuckled.

"Not everyone can have a dependable vehicle, ass."

"I think we should use your car for our next bonfire. What do you think Sara? That's about all it's good for now anyways," Zach joked as we rounded the corner.

"Might as well," I said as I both laughed and blushed at the same time.

Luke was wearing his football jersey, as was all of the football team today. It was the Lions vs. the Tigers and the whole school was more than eager for this game considering the Tigers had never beaten us before. Our team was undefeated and has been for the last six years. Needless to say, we are the school to beat. Luke looked especially good in his jersey because it hugged his chest and showed off the tan muscles that rippled underneath. It took all I had not to stare too much even though he seemed to either not notice, or not care.

"Earth to Sara! Hello Sara, you there? That was the bell...care to go to class?"

Damn, was that the bell...I must have been day dreaming...again..."yeah, I'm coming."...jerk...


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Since this is my first attempt at actually writing, please forgive me if it sucks a little, lol. I am new to this kind of thing but I have read other stories and have found plenty of inspiration and plenty of great examples to learn from. So please...be patient with me...and don't be afraid to let me know what you think!

Chapter 2

By the way, my name is Sara. Sara Chase. I'm all of 17 and I live on Fleming Island. I've been here my whole life. I love it here because I have access to not only a gigantic city with plenty of things to do but a beautiful beach as well. And the shopping is great! If you're into that sort of thing...

First period English is not that fun. And I'm not too keen on my teacher as it is. Mr. Turnipseed. What a name. I'm not one of his best students either. I struggle with the little things...you know...like paying attention. But usually, my first class of the day goes by very slowly and after that it's all down hill. Partly because I enjoy the rest of my classes. Computer 3 for second, Art for third and P.E. for fourth. And since it's not currently softball season, I don't have any reason to stick around after school like Zach and Luke. That's why I have trouble finding a ride to work during football season. But ever since someone decided they wanted to vandalize the field house and set on fire most of the sports equipment, students and teachers were forbidden to go in there and touch anything. Afraid they would mess up any evidence left behind by who done it. But we all know it was our only true rival team. The biggest rival here. And we had to play them tonight. Last year, we stole their 'mascot sign' and never gave it back. Funnest night EVER! Or at least, would have been if I didn't have to work. That was the first time I ever had to walk and it was because Luke and Zach got busted, but not for stealing the sign. Because they were on school grounds after hours. They got busted because Luke's truck is too big to just hide anywhere and his stupid self parked it right in front of the school. Yeah, not smart.

"Hey, Sara...did you do the homework last night?" I heard as I turned around to face Matt, just one of the many school slackers. Oh crap, the essay...on a stupid Earnest Hemingway novel at that...what was it called again? Something about Bells...not my cup of tea.

"Uhhh...not really...I kind of forgot about it. What about you?" I ask as I waited for the answer already knowing what it would be.

"Yeah actually I did. Surprising huh?" Yes...very surprising.

"What did you write it about?" Zombies...vampires...werewolves...marijuana?

"The Diary of Anne Frank." Whoa way out of left field there! Totally did not expect that!

I know he saw the look of shock on my face and I just knew he was silently reveling in his chance to one up me for a change. Maybe the weed finally done some good in that fried brain of his. Needless to say, Mr. Turnipseed was a tad bit disappointed in me completely unfinished essay, and not even caring as to why it hadn't even been started since we had a whole week to finish it. I just simply forgot. Not a good enough excuse, I know, but it's the truth. And I do work four nights a week until 10. that leaves me no time for homework and I really don't want to do it the only three nights I have off. I have other stuff to do like, teenage stuff, and I have a house to keep up. Mostly, though, I just don't want to do it.

Finally, the bell rang and I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I rounded the corner out of the classroom and Luke was leaning against one of the lockers chatting with some little blond bimbo named, of all names, Candy. No surprise there that she's full of hot air and flaky. But I guess that doesn't matter to most guys as long as there's a hot body under that hot air. And today was no exception. "...so Luke what are you doing after the game tonight?"...was all I heard as I kept walking past them totally ignoring the little blond tart. But I guess I didn't walk fast enough because I felt something hit the back of my head and when I looked down it was a crumpled up piece of paper. Luke looked way to innocent for me not to suspect him. "What the hell was that?" I asked, not really all that angry. "Why are you ignoring me?" He said as I walked back up to him. "Well, you seem busy." I said as I cut my eyes to her and back to him. She didn't look to happy to see me talking to him either. "I thought we could take break together...It's only ten minutes...I might not get to talk to you for the rest of the day." He said as he gave me those pale green puppy dog eyes. Who can refuse that with Luke Martin being the one that is saying it? And I noticed that she wasn't too happy about it either. Good. Serves her right for trying to take my Luke away...not that he's mine...I'm just saying. Skank. "Alright, let's go. I'm hungry." I said as we made our way down the hall to the cafeteria on the floor below.

"So are you coming to the game tonight?" asked Luke as he chewed on a chicken biscuit.

"No, I have to work until 10. I wish I could though. I just know it was them that set all that stuff on fire. They probably think y'all have to forfeit."

"Like hell we are. So what are you doing after? I was thinking about a bonfire and maybe some music. But just us three. I'm not in the mood for anything bigger." He said looking at me almost pleadingly. Again, how can I say no? I can't. And I'm so not a pushover I swear!

"I would love to. But someone has to pick me up from work." I said as the bell rang for second period. Okay, so maybe I'm a little easy on the decisions that involve Luke. NOT MY FAULT. "I'll let you and Zach decide on that as I trotted off with my back to him. I could feel his eyes on my back as I retreated.

Computer 3 went by too fast as it always does because it's one of my favorite classes I've ever taken. And Mrs. Gordon is my favorite teacher. I've had her three times so far. And thankfully I have lunch before third period Art because I don't like to be interrupted. And finally, P.E. I used to hate P.E. But then I met Coach Keltner and she said she never liked it either. So needless to say, we don't do much. Usually everyone in the class can choose what they want to do but most of us girls chat or catch up on homework while the guys play basketball. Occasionally though I'll get up and play just to break the monotony.

But this time, as I was walking by that stupid blond air head, I overheard her telling another flaky classmate that she heard Luke telling me about a bonfire and she was hoping to crash it and have him all to herself. Great. There goes the night. Maybe I should warn Luke, but he's as big of a pushover as I am and I have a feeling he won't tell her no. So I decided instead to bombard Zach after school with a whole bunch of questions about her and why she seemed to be so interested in him all of a sudden. All I could get out of it was she wanted popularity and didn't care who it came from. What I managed to put together was she was willing to sleep her way to the top. So typical, don't you think? Normally, I don't care about who does what with whom, but this is about Luke and I just don't like anyone to get near him for that reason. I know he's a teenage boy with needs. I have needs myself but Luke is different. I like him. Like A LOT. I just can't tell him. I can't explain why. Maybe I'm afraid he'll laugh at me and say as if. Or maybe I'm afraid it'll ruin our friendship and I'd rather have him as a friend and suffer through a crush than to not have him at all because it didn't work out. And no one likes rejection.

My time in the hell I call work went by entirely too slowly. Not surprisingly though, Zach and Luke pulled up together to pick me up. I could tell that something was up because we didn't go to the usually spot. Instead we drove through the woods behind Zach's family's land and found a spot that apparently had already been dug out so as not to catch the surrounding wood on fire. Oh, and no blond bimbo in sight. And I forgot to mention, I found it odd that they came on Luke's truck. Not that Zach's would have had any trouble getting through the brush since he has a Land Rover but that Chevy never fails. And I'm also not complaining about the fact that I had to sit in between them which means my left thigh was firmly planted against Luke's. This was definitely turning out to be the best night ever!

We got out of the truck, all too soon I might add because it was very warm, and made our way to the freshly dug pit. Some gas and matches were already sitting there. I backed up a little just in case there was a fire ball...I like my eyebrows, I choose to keep them, and watched as Zach poured on the gas while Luke lit the match. Instantly there was orange light everywhere. And warmth. No explosion this time, thank God. Zach pulled down two coolers and Luke pulled out three chairs to sit on. "Shit, we forgot the music. Oh well. We'll just have to keep each other company." Luke said as he looked at me with a small grin on his face. "Yeah, whatever. Want a beer? Sara?" I thanked Zach as he handed me and Luke both a bottle. He was being really quiet tonight and it kind of unnerved me. Not that he ever spoke much anyway but it was weird. "So did you win?" I asked as I looked between them, noticing they were both being quiet. "Yeah we won. You should have seen the look on their faces when we came running out. They totally expected us not to show up tonight. Stupid bastards." Said Luke as we all laughed. "Did anyone say anything about the field house?" I asked. "No. That's the weird part. Not a single person mentioned it. Kind of makes me wonder if what we thought originally is actually true now. I guess it'll come out eventually. It's all crap and childish if you ask me." I looked at Zach as he finished his first (of many) beers wondering when he became so passive.

We were all really quiet for a long time after that. Not much to say I guess. I was glad they won. And not surprised really. They simply never lose. "So where's the blond girl. Candy is it? I heard her say she was going to crash the bonfire tonight?" I asked as Luke gave me a dirty look. Just then, headlights pulled up and I was mad at myself for speaking too soon. But it wasn't her that got out. It was a few of the other football players although I couldn't tell you their names. Thankfully, one of them brought some tunes and we no longer had to deal with the quiet.

"Hey Luke, I thought you were gonna bring that blond girl out here by yourself. What happened?" One of the guys asked as I nearly choked on my beer. "Yeah, what happened to that?" I asked him as anger flooded my vision. My skin felt on fire. So he was going to come out here alone. With her. That thought only pushed my vision a little darker as I was now seeing only her face stained with red. "No. Where did you hear that?" He said, sounding completely surprised. "Oh, well that's what she was telling everyone. Maybe she heard wrong." The guy said. Or maybe, she's trying to start some crap hoping Luke will cave in. Realization hit me at what I was just thinking a moment earlier and I felt so embarrassed. I just looked at him apologetically. He busted out laughing and I blushed about three shades of red. Shame is what I felt. "No worries." he said quietly for only me to hear. "So how was work?" He asked as Zach handed me another beer. "Dull. Boring. Overrated." I said as he smiled at me. And my favorite smile too. Kind of crooked and cocky but completely sweet at the same time.

Someone had the bright idea of adding some more fuel and brush to the fire so we were all momentarily blinded but the bright orange glow. I really hope the guy burned some hair off of his face because the fire was quickly becoming too hot and I'm sure you can see it from outer space. It was like a beacon for blond trash named Candy to find. But I never saw her that night. Nor on school Monday. Soon, the rest of the week rolled around and no one had heard from her. Not even her parents. Even I started to panic a little as we all started coming to the conclusion that she had either ran away, or someone had kidnapped her. But if she had been kidnapped, what else had they done or were going to do? It was as if I were psychic because they found some of her clothing with a small amount of blood on it not too far away from our bonfire site the previous weekend. That's what bothered me the most. I didn't exactly like the girl but I saw no reason to be glad she was gone. And to know that she might have been that close and one of us could have helped her had we known? It unsettled me and I found myself wishing that she had secretly ran away instead. I think we were all wishing that.

Luke didn't say much the whole week and I wondered what was on his mind. Maybe they were closer than I originally thought. Or maybe, he just didn't care and didn't see the need to dwell on it like everyone else was. Either way, I was happy to talk about other things. Like the upcoming game and party Zach was throwing in his basement. A lot of the students thought it would be a good distraction as long as no one strayed away from there too far. It was on his parent's land they found the bloody clothing. I also think they all wanted to sneak out there to see if they could find something the police missed. I was a little intrigued myself. To see something that you don't want to look at but also something you can't take your eyes off of. Something like...a dead body...


End file.
